UPS Store selected as Martinez Chamber’s Business of the Year

MARTINEZ, Calif. – The Martinez Chamber of Commercehas announced The UPS Store in Martinez as their Business of the Year for 2016.

Jerry Knutson has been the owner of The UPS Store for the past 13 years. His store is located in the Village Oaks Shopping Center between Lucky and Rite Aid.

When Jerry bought the store, the first thing he did was join the Martinez Chamber of Commerce. He designed and printed the Martinez Living newsletter for many years. If the Chamber needed something yesterday, he would work late nights and weekends to get it done.

Jerry has almost doubled the size of the crew since he first purchased the store. His support of small businesses helps the community.

He’s been through many peaks and valleys in the economy in 13 years. He has also seen shopping online and shipping direct replace the good old days when people brought in the gift for grandma and he packed it and shipped it. Through it all, he has managed to grow the store 400 percent in value since he first bought it.

The UPS Store used to be known for just shipping. Jerry has built the store around business services. It has a “Mom & Pop” feel, but he has invested in cutting edge technology to better assist his customers. The one-stop-shop offers digital printing, wide-format printing like architectural designs, high quality color copying, banners, mailboxes, computer time rental, faxing, notaries, and, passport photos.

A small business can have a mailbox that shows as a real address and be notified when that certain letter/package comes in. Customers may also use their computers to do business, print the documentation, email/mail/fax it out, and get help creating full color business cards, brochures, or even banners to market their business.

One of the best features is that Jerry is the person who does the design work and oversees any printing. He is right there to help get it the way you want. He has built a reputation as “the fireman,” there to help when you are in a jam, or need it now.

Jerry is very supportive of education. He has volunteered many hours working on the Hispanic Chamber’s yearly “Narrowing the Gap” education conference. He also supports Martinez schools by donating printing for fundraising events and special discounts for teachers. He supports many of the local youth sports teams.

Jerry also supports workforce development. He is willing to give employees a chance, whether it is a “blip” in their employment record, or because they have no experience at all. He has hired students still in high school and helped them learn valuable skills. He is open to working around college and adult education courses so that they can learn and earn.

“Whether we’re working with big accounts like Oracle, Crowne Plaza or County Connection, or just someone in for a notary, we care.” That is Jerry’s motto. If you come in, and are at a loss of how to work the copier, employees are trained to come out from behind the counter and help you.

The store was awarded the Hispanic Chamber of Contra Costa County’s Small Business of the Year-2010, and Martinez Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Month award four times. The store has also won “Center of Excellence” awards from the UPS Store organization.

Jerry supports many nonprofits through donations of design and printing. He is a huge supporter of Shelter Inc., Main Street Martinez, has helped the Martinez Chamber and the Hispanic Chamber, youth sports teams, schools, animal shelters, and collects for Toys for Tots, Christmas for Everyone, and every year runs the “One Warm Coat” drive.

You will often see Jerry’s UPS Store logo or sign/banner at events because of his support. The store is a franchise, meaning he must adhere to corporate protocol as an owner, but any time or money he donates is from him personally, not the corporation.

The Martinez Chamber of Commerce is honored to have The UPS Store as their 2016 Business of the Year.

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The Martinez Tribune is a community newspaper serving Martinez, California, and outlying areas in the East Bay of San Francisco. It is the only locally owned and operated newspaper in Martinez, and publishes all-local news, sports, classifieds, legal notices and other content of interest.